Philosophy of "God" and "I"—The Middle Ages Woven by Christianity and Greek Philosophy

2022/03/10

The title of this book is the first to be exactly as the author intended. Even though the editor who read the manuscript felt the quality of the work was certain, they seemed unable to come up with a title that would appeal to readers. I am a little surprised, as until now, the author's wishes had been rejected out of hand. Apparently, the quality is different from previous works.

By the way, it could be said that the first thing anyone imagines when they hear the word "I" is "themselves." However, there are as many "I"s as there are people. I think that surprisingly few people have ever thought deeply about that.

In other words, "I" signifies a specific individual while simultaneously being a universal (common) word for all who can say "I." In philosophy, this universal meaning is called "personality" or "persona."

The fact that modern Europe made individual dignity (human rights) the starting point of democracy was due to the intellectual deepening of "I" through medieval theology from this perspective.

If there is an important contribution to society that can only be made through diligent philosophical research, it is, above all, to make clear that differences in the surface of "words" do not necessarily mean differences in meaning.

By the way, when "I" think about things as an ordinary person, "I" think about things as "we." Therefore, "I" as a member of society is no longer the true "I." When the ideological influence of society becomes too strong for the individual, the true "I" is lost from among the people, and individual human potential is lost.

The reason why "I" is being questioned in various forms today is likely because the modern era is truly an age of crisis for the "I." In medieval Europe, the ideological control of the Christian Church over the individual was, naturally, immense. The speculation of the "individual" in opposition to this was debated among theologians as the doctrine of the Trinity (theory of persona) and as intuitive cognition versus abstract cognition.

I believe that the European Middle Ages should not be relegated to "beyond history," but is an intellectual endeavor that we must learn from precisely now.

Philosophy of "God" and "I"—The Middle Ages Woven by Christianity and Greek Philosophy

Yuji Yagi

Shunjusha

320 pages, 3,080 yen (tax included)

※Affiliations, job titles, etc., are as of the time of publication.